Officer Illegally Arrested Citizen After The Citizen Attempted To File Complaints Against Him

William
Dukes, Jr., a former sergeant with the Providence, Kentucky, Police
Department, was sentenced today to 42 months in federal prison and three
years’ supervised release for willfully depriving a Kentucky citizen of
his constitutional rights under color of law, announced Acting
Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Justice Department’s Civil
Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman for the Western
District of Kentucky.

The jury found that Dukes willfully violated the Constitution by
arresting the victim, while knowing that he did not have probable cause
to believe that the victim had committed any crime. The evidence
presented at trial established that after the victim called the
authorities seeking to file a complaint about an earlier interaction
with Dukes, he wrongfully arrested the victim.

The jury heard evidence presented in court that when the victim
called the Providence Police Department to complain about Dukes, Dukes
responded by threatening to arrest him if he called back again. Still
determined to file a complaint, the victim then called the local
sheriff’s office and the Kentucky State Police. When Dukes became aware
of these additional calls, he drove to the victim’s home in the middle
of the night, without a warrant, to arrest him.

Upon arriving at the victim’s home after 1 a.m., Dukes attempted to
arrest the victim based solely on the phone calls he had made
complaining about Dukes. When the victim insisted he had done nothing
wrong and retreated into his home, Dukes entered the victim’s home
without a warrant. Dukes then tased the victim, sprayed him in the face
with pepper spray, struck him repeatedly with a police baton, and
punched him in the face, breaking the victim’s nose. Next, Dukes
handcuffed the victim and charged him with four crimes, including a
charge of property damage because blood from the victim’s broken nose
got onto Dukes’s police uniform.

The jury convicted Dukes of willfully violating the victim’s
constitutional rights, and found that the offense involved the use of a
dangerous weapon or resulted in bodily injury.

“Police officers have a duty to protect the rights of members of
their communities and safeguard them from harm or injury,” said Acting
Assistant Attorney General John Gore. “Dukes abused his authority as a
law enforcement officer by illegally arresting his victim and also by
inflicting unwarranted physical harm, and the Justice Department held
him responsible.”

“Kentucky lawmen and women are among the finest in the nation,” said
U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman “But when they cross a clear line, as did
Mr. Dukes, they will be held accountable like any other citizen of our
Commonwealth.”

This case was investigated by the Louisville Division of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States
Attorney Seth Hancock of the Western District of Kentucky and Trial
Attorney Zachary Dembo of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights
Division.